Melissa's Visit
by Nikita1506
Summary: A Hollywood Heights one-shot, that turned into a two-fer, and is now a three-some...based on what might have happened after Ep. 147, if Melissa had decided that she needed to be Loren's champion and find out what had really gone on...EDDIE'S PLAN FINALLY POSTED!
1. Chapter 1

(Okay, on a scale of 1-10 who thinks that Chloe needs karma to kick her in the ass? Maybe physically…And Eddie? Oh, we're SOOOO not going there…stupid boys…)

* * *

Melissa's Visit

Eddie and Ian were talking when there was a knock on the door. With a groan, Eddie stood and went to look out the peephole. He was surprised to see Loren's best friend Melissa standing there. Without hesitation, he opened the door to her.

"Melissa, hey," Eddie said, "what're you doing here?"

Melissa placed her hand in the middle of Eddie's chest and shoved him backward hard, making him stumble back into his apartment.

"What did you do to her?!" she demanded.

Ian stood up quickly at the anger in the young woman's voice. Seeing him from the corner of her eye, Melissa stopped and her look softened a fraction.

"Ian, nice to see you again," she smiled.

"Mel," Ian returned, "Maybe I should leave you alone?"

"Oh, no," Melissa returned, "I need a witness here so I don't accidently murder the jackass who just broke my best friend's heart," as she spoke her voice hardened again and she glared at Eddie.

"What are you talking about?" Eddie asked.

Melissa crossed her arms over her chest, "Look, I get that you felt the need to go to the hospital when Chloe OD'ed, more than likely purposefully to get your attention, but I digress. Loren even understood it, but neither of us understands why she was here today."

"How do you know—" Melissa interrupted him before he could finish.

"Loren tried to call you earlier. Chloe answered and told her that you were in the shower."

Ian decided to put his two cents in, "Now Mel, you should know my boy better than that. There's no way—"

Melissa spun around, her hand up to ward off his words, "Look, I appreciate you looking out for your friend, but he's not the one who is terrified that they just screwed up the best thing in their life," she turned to face Eddie again, who was staring at her, hurt; "In all the time I've known Loren, she's _never_ let anyone in as much as she has you. She's my best friend, but even I know that you two share something that she and I never could. And yeah, she's a fan of yours; but she also thought she was your friend. For her, you weren't just her idol anymore Eddie. She didn't have a crush on Eddie Duran, the rock star. She liked Eddie Duran the guy. The one who took the time to listen to her music and fight to get her back into the contest. The one who helped her work through her crippling stage fright. The guy who," she laughed as she said this, "who blew off his video shoot to play foosball with us."

It seemed that she paused to let this sink into his head.

"So when she called you earlier, and Chloe answered your phone; she freaked out. Norah barely managed to talk her down. She came over to my house after she talked to you, she told me what she said and first of all; 'back at ya'?" she shook her head, "no…just…no. Second, if you needed to be alone for a few days, you didn't have to lie to her about some stupid press junction. She would've understood if you'd just said that you needed to clear your head or something," the look on his face had her explaining, "She forgot to ask you when you would be back, and she didn't want to bug you again because you sounded like something was up, so she called Jake's office. Imagine her surprise when Stephen told her that you didn't _have_ a press junction coming up anytime soon. That was a dick move Duran."

Melissa paused again, but this time she wanted to see if Eddie had anything to say for himself. When he didn't say anything, Melissa almost growled in exasperation.

"You've got two choices Duran. You either fix this, or you stay the hell away from Loren. Personally _and_ professionally. Or I will _not_ be held responsible for my resulting actions."

She turned to say goodbye to Ian, and walked out the door; letting it close behind her.


	2. Chapter 2

(Okay…so y'all wanted Eddie's thoughts…well, hope this pacifies ya…

Peace and Love)

* * *

I couldn't help laughing at Ian. At least he was trying to get my mind off all this. But it was only half way working. Chloe was the furthest thing from my mind, but Loren? She was all I could think about. I wondered if she'd meant what she said, or if Ian was right and it was just a slip of the tongue. I groaned when I heard the knock at the door and prayed that it wasn't Chloe again.

I got up from my seat and walked to the door. There was no way I was just gonna open it again, the surprise visit from Chloe made me rethink that option. The worst part was that when she showed up, I thought; well, I was hoping, it was Loren, so I could talk to her. But seeing my ex-fiancée's face? It just brought all the hurt back to the surface.

So I was surprised when I looked out the peephole and I saw Loren's best friend Melissa standing there. I didn't hesitate to open the door for her.

"Melissa, hey, what're you doing here?" I asked her with a smile.

I was confused when she put her hand on my chest. But when she shoved me, I stumbled back into the apartment, almost falling over when I tripped against the piano bench.

"What did you do to her?!" she demanded as she walked into the apartment.

Ian had stood up when he heard me stumbling and Melissa caught sight of him, making her pause and smile gently.

"Ian, nice to see you again."

"Mel," Ian replied, glancing at me warily, "Maybe I should leave you alone?"

Melissa turned her glare back to me, "Oh no, I need a witness here so I don't accidently murder the _jackass_ that just broke my best friend's heart," she spat at me.

"What're you talking about?" I asked her, sitting on the piano bench as her words actually sank in.

In a move that actually made me scared of this girl, she crossed her arms over her chest and gave me probably the scariest look of my life.

"Look, I get that you felt the need to go to the hospital when Chloe OD'ed, more than likely purposefully to get your attention, but I digress," my eyes widened at that, "Loren even understood it, but neither of us understands why she was here today."

I was confused, "How do you know—" I never got to finish my question because Melissa interrupted me.

"Loren tried to call you earlier," she spat at me, "Chloe answered and told her that you were in the shower."

So that was why Loren sounded so weird on the phone earlier! I wanted to wring Chloe's neck. She will do _anything_ to try and get back together, even if it means destroying my relationships and friendships with other people apparently. God, I can't believe this. I ran my hand through my hair, trying to think, when I heard Ian speak up.

"Now Mel, you should know my boy better than that. There's no way—" she didn't let him finish trying to defend me, and I don't blame her.

"Look, I appreciate you looking out for your friend, but he's not the one who is terrified that they just screwed up the best thing in their life," she turned to face me again, I couldn't help but stare at her, and I was hoping she saw the pain in my eyes; "In all the time I've known Loren, she's never let anyone in as much as she has you. She's my best friend, but even I know that you two share something that she and I never could. And yeah, she's a fan of yours; but she also thought she was your friend. For her, you weren't just her idol anymore Eddie. She didn't have a crush on Eddie Duran, the rock star. She liked Eddie Duran the guy. The one who took the time to listen to her music and fight to get her back into the contest. The one who helped her work through her crippling stage fright. The guy who," she laughed as she said this, "who blew off his video shoot to play foosball with us."

I tried to work through Mel's speech but honestly, what she'd just told me, freaked me out. But it also made my heart race. Loren and I barely knew each other, and I'd only just cut Chloe loose. That reminded me, I really needed to find a way to get that ring back. Turn it into something else maybe. Okay…I really had to stop _that_ train of thought. Where was I? Right, Loren and I had only just started to hang out; but there was something about her. She had this…aura about her that just pulled me to her.

It's funny, when I first saw her at the club; I recognized her from my concert. Even first seeing her, though I was on stage, something drew me to her. I watched her as she sang along with me, like most girls were, but Loren had this innocence about her; and when I walked over to her, I had to stop myself from smiling at the look of surprise on her face. She reached out and I couldn't stop myself from taking her hand, though at any of my concerts before, I'd never held hands with any of the fans. It didn't matter that I was with Chloe, not then. And then to find out that _she_ was 'loveto_love_you'? Something just clicked inside of me.

I was brought back to the conversation at hand when Melissa began speaking again. As she spoke, I'd never felt more ashamed of myself in my life. Mel had every right to go off on me like she was.

"So when she called you earlier, and Chloe answered your phone; she freaked out. Norah barely managed to talk her down. She came over to my house after she talked to you, she told me what she said and first of all; 'back at ya'?" she shook her head, "no…just…no. Second, if you needed to be alone for a few days, you didn't have to lie to her about some stupid press junction. She would've understood if you'd just said that you needed to clear your head or something," she must've noticed the question on my face because she started explaining, "She forgot to ask you when you would be back, and she didn't want to bug you again because you sounded like something was up, so she called Jake's office. Imagine her surprise when Stephen told her that you didn't have a press junction coming up anytime soon. That was a dick move Duran."

I didn't know what to say. I knew I should've told Loren the truth, but I lied to her. Why did I lie to her? Lying to Chloe, that was understandable. But I lied to Loren, who'd been nothing but sweet and good for me. She brought me back to life. I blinked in shock when Melissa growled at me.

"You've got two choices Duran. You either fix this, or you stay the hell away from Loren. Personally _and_ professionally. Or I will _not_ be held responsible for my resulting actions."

I flinched at the venom in her voice, but was unable to respond before she said good-bye to Ian and left; thankfully _not_ slamming my front door behind her. When she was gone I turned around and Ian and I shared a look.

What the hell had I done? I needed to fix things with Loren, and quick. Before I lost her for good.


	3. Chapter 3

(Okay, so my little one-shot that turned into a two-fer…and is now a three-some…possibly a four-some…lemme think on that one...)

* * *

Ian's Opinion

"Well mate, I say we go out to the clubs, grab a couple of girls and get piss drunk," I said with a grin.

Eddie laughed, which was what I'd set out to do.

"Ian, you are a cold, cold man."

I shrugged and opened my mouth to speak when there was a knock at the door. Eddie groaned and stood, going to the door. I saw the look of surprise on his face and he opened the door easily.

"Melissa, hey," Eddie said, "what're you doing here?"

Eddie suddenly stumbled back and hit the piano bench, I stood when I saw Loren's best friend step into the apartment.

"What did you do to her?!" she demanded.

Melissa must've seen me stand from her peripheral vision because she turned to me and her face softened.

"Ian, nice to see you again," she smiled.

"Mel," I replied, and seeing the glare she shot Eddie I had to suggest; "Maybe I should leave you alone?"

"Oh, no," Melissa returned, "I need a witness here so I don't _accidently_ murder the jackass who just broke my best friend's heart."

As she spoke her voice hardened again and she glared at Eddie. I shivered; the girl was scary when she wanted to be!

"What are you talking about?" Eddie asked.

"Look," Melissa said, crossing her arms, "I get that you felt the need to go to the hospital when Chloe OD'ed, more than likely purposefully to get your attention, but I digress." I had to chuckle, that girl knew how to sling an insult when needed, "Loren even understood it, but neither of us understands why she was here today."

"How do you know—"

"Loren tried to call you earlier. Chloe answered and _told_ her that you were in the shower."

I had to say something. There was no way the Eddie would be stupid enough to get back with Chloe, not after everything she'd put him through.

"Now Mel, you should know my boy better than that. There's no way—"

Melissa spun around, her hand up and cutting me off as I tried to defend my boy.

"Look, I appreciate you looking out for your friend, but _he's_ not the one who is terrified that they just screwed up the best thing in their life," she turned to face Eddie again and I saw the confusion and hurt on his face; "In all the time I've known Loren, she's _never_ let anyone in as much as she has you,"

She was angry at Eddie, and hurt for her friend; and it showed as she spoke.

"She's my _best_ friend, but even I know that you two share something that she and I never could. And yeah, she's a fan of yours; but she also thought she was your friend. For her, you weren't just her idol anymore Eddie. She didn't have a crush on Eddie Duran, the rock star. She liked Eddie Duran the guy. The one who took the time to listen to her music and fight to get her back into the contest. The one who helped her work through her crippling stage fright. The guy who," she laughed as she said this, "who blew off his video shoot to play foosball with us."

It seemed that she paused to let this sink into his head. I had to hand it to the girl, she not only had a way with words, but she knew how to use them to her advantage.

"So when she called you earlier, and _Chloe_ answered your phone; she freaked out. Nora barely managed to talk her down. She came over to my house after she talked to you, she told me what she said and first of all; 'back at ya'?" she shook her head and I grinned, trying not to laugh at the look on her face, "no…just…no. Second, if you needed to be alone for a few days, you didn't have to lie to her about some stupid press junction. She would've understood if you'd just said that you needed to clear your head or something."

I was confused and I saw that Eddie was to but Melissa explained before either of us could ask.

"She forgot to ask you when you would be back, and she didn't want to bug you again because you sounded like something was up, so she called Jake's office. Imagine her surprise when Stephen told her that you didn't _have_ a press junction coming up anytime soon. _That_ was a dick move Duran."

Melissa paused again, and I waited for Eddie to defend himself, to say anything really. Honestly though, I understood why he lied to Chloe, I mean, the girl was plain crazy. But his little valley girl, Loren? She hadn't deserved him lying to her. I felt bad, because I knew there was no way I could help my friend at this point. Melissa growled when Eddie stayed silent.

"You've got two choices Duran. You either fix this, or you stay the hell away from Loren. Personally _and_ professionally. Or I will _not_ be held responsible for my resulting actions."

Eddie and I both winced, and Melissa turned to me again.

"It was nice seeing you again Ian," she said with a small smile, "Maybe next time we meet it'll be under better circumstances."

I nodded my head, my respect for this girl growing at how much she loved and protected her friends.

"Good to see you too Melissa," I returned, "Maybe next time we'll just leave the drama out of it and get together ourselves."

She smiled, and I couldn't help but smile back. For a younger girl, she was pretty damned cute. She walked out the door, not slamming it behind her like others would've and Eddie turned to me and we shared look.

"What the hell did you do?" I asked.

"What the hell have I done?" Eddie said at the same time.

I shook my head, "Eddie, you're in deep. Trouble that is. I haven't seen you smile like this in a while mate. Your little valley girl brings that out in you. Don't ruin it because of Chloe."


	4. Chapter 4

(FINALLY! The fourth and final chapter. And the longest. How Eddie makes it up to Loren. Peace and love. Happy 2013.)

* * *

Eddie's Plan

After Ian left, Eddie tried to work through a plan to make up to Loren for lying to her. Thinking back, he knew how hurt he'd been when he found out that Chloe had lied to him; and now he was doing the same thing to Loren. Not to the same degree, but that wasn't the point. Looking around, he spied Loren's songbook sitting on his piano and picked it up; running his fingers over the designs she'd drawn into the cover. He sighed; he really needed a way to fix this.

After an hour, he finally had a plan. Now all he needed was permission. The first call he made was to his dad.

"Hey Pops."

"_Hey Son, what's going on?"_

"Something's going on? I can't just call my dad?" Eddie tried to joke.

"_Well, considering you should be on your way to the bungalow right now and you're calling me instead, I'm going to guess that something happened."_

Eddie sighed and scratched the back of his head, "I think I did something stupid," he said, and proceeded to explain the day's events, including Mel's impromptu visit to verbally kick his ass.

"_Eddie,"_ Max sighed, _"You need to fix this. Loren is a great girl and—"_

"I know Pops, but, wasn't it you who told me to take it slow in the first place?"

"_Yeah, and if I hadn't have seen the smile on your face just because she walked into the room, I'd still be saying the exact same thing. But Eddie, I gotta tell ya, I see you look at Loren the way I used to look at your mom."_

Eddie was stunned. He had no answer for that. Vaguely he registered his dad talking again.

"Sorry Pops, what did you say?"

Max chuckled, _"I said, how are you going to fix this with Loren?"_

"Well, you see…"

As Eddie explained his plan to his dad, Loren had arrived home from Mel's and went straight to her room. Her mom wasn't home yet and probably wouldn't be for a while still. She dropped onto her bed, laying on her stomach clutching one of her pillows as she stared out the window. After a little while, her phone rang and she reached into her back pocket to answer it. But upon seeing Eddie's name flash across the screen, she hesitated.

Loren wanted to talk to Eddie, but she was still hurt from him lying to her. She knew if she answered her phone now, the conversation wouldn't end well and she would ruin any friendship she had left with Eddie. So she hit the ignore button and tossed her phone to the other end of the bed. Sighing, she got up and packed some clothes to take back to Melissa's with her before settling back down to stare out the window once more.

"_Hey it's Loren; sorry I can't answer right now. Leave a message and I'll get back to you! Or better yet, text me! Bye!"_

Her voicemail rang through and Eddie frowned. She'd sent him to voicemail? He debated leaving her a message, but then decided he would just go over to her house and surprise her. He'd already spoken to Nora, why his dad had her number, he wasn't sure, but he was grateful for it; and Nora had agreed to his plan to apologize to Loren; telling him one thing that made him pause.

"_Don't hurt my girl Eddie. Rock star or no, if you hurt my little girl; no one will ever find your body."_

He grabbed his bag and picked up Loren's songbook and his keys from the piano. Tucking the book gently into the front pocket of his bag, Eddie went to leave the apartment, only to find Chloe standing on his doorstep; fist poised to knock.

"What do you want?" he asked angrily.

"To talk to you," Chloe said pitifully.

"Well, I don't have time to talk," Eddie told her as he locked his door and shoved the keys in his pocket.

"Where are you going?" Chloe asked, following him to the elevator.

"That's none of your business," Eddie said.

"Well, when will you be back? Osborne Silver wants to meet with us and he's flying out of the country tomorrow."

Shaking his head, Eddie chuckled in disbelief; "You are unbelievable," he muttered.

"We can go meet with him right now," Chloe tried desperately.

"I don't have the time Chloe," Eddie said again, pulling his arm out of her grasp when she tried to touch him, "I have a press junket to get to."

"Oh. Where?" Chloe asked.

"Again. Not your business," Eddie said, pulling his phone from his pocket to dial Loren's number one more time.

When her voicemail clicked on again, Eddie sighed, shaking his head.

"Who are you calling?" Chloe pushed.

He'd have a lot to explain to Loren, but right now, he was going to use the opportunity presented to him. Once he heard the beep, he began talking to her machine.

"Hey beautiful, I'm on my way to pick you up and then we'll head out. You have no idea how glad I am that you decided to come with me this weekend," he paused like he was listening to her talk and then chuckled, "Yeah, I know. But listen, I'll let you finish packing up and I'll be down to get you as soon as traffic lets me alright? I'll see you soon," he paused again, smiling at the look on Chloe's face, "Back at ya beautiful," he said before hanging up the phone.

He shoved his phone back in his pocket and stepped into the elevator as soon as the doors opened, Chloe following right behind him like a stalker.

"Please tell me that wasn't the little high school girl," she demanded.

"Loren," was all Eddie replied.

"What?"

Finally, Eddie glanced at Chloe from the corner of his eye and silently prayed that the elevator would move faster.

"Her name is Loren. And yes, that was her. She's coming with me this weekend. Get a feel for things, and get the both of us away and alone for a few days."

Chloe didn't say anything, just stared at him in shock. Eddie couldn't help but think that this was the longest she'd ever been quiet without being asleep. Finally, the elevator reached the lobby and he sighed in relief, stepping out of the small metal box as soon as the doors opened.

"I can't believe you're doing this to me," Chloe simpered.

"Doing what?" Eddie snapped, finally losing his cool, "Getting on with my life? Getting you out of my life? Listen to me very carefully Chloe," he said calmly as he stepped towards her, "We are finished. Done. Over. I want less than nothing to do with you."

Loren stood by the entrance doors, having already been on the way back to Eddie's to get her song book, watching the scene unfold; feeling out of place. Eddie's message had confused the hell out of her, but seeing what was going on; she figured out what he'd done. The question was, was she angry with him about it? Or would she help him out? Shifting her stance and hiking her backpack higher on her shoulder, Loren bit her lip, her thoughts in turmoil. But Eddie's next words caught her by surprise.

"And yeah, I have been spending a lot of time with Loren lately, but did it ever occur to your artificially bleached mind that I spend time with her because I _like_ her? That she actually helps me get over what you did to me? Loren is sweet, funny, beautiful and genuine; all the time. She's everything you're not Chloe, which is part of the reason I spend time with her. The rest being that one day, when I finally feel healed enough from what you did to me; I'm going to make damn sure I never lose Loren Tate from my life."

Loren's anger melted away and she stepped forward, catching both Chloe and Eddie's attention.

"Loren," Eddie started, his eyes on hers.

She smiled softly, "Mom dropped me off," she explained quietly as she moved to his side and slipped her hand in his free one, "I left my book upstairs. Besides, isn't it easier to just leave from here?"

"Uh, yeah," Eddie replied, not sure where she was going with this, "I grabbed your book before locking up. You ready to go?" he asked.

Loren squeezed his hand gently and let him see the forgiveness in her eyes. Eddie sighed in relief and brought their joined hands up to his mouth, pressing a kiss to her knuckles. Before they left, Loren paused and turned back to Chloe.

"Oh hey Chloe?" she called sweetly.

"What?" Chloe spat out.

"Do everyone a favor and go back to Fresno."

Eddie didn't know whether to be stunned or proud of Loren standing up for herself. He was quiet as they walked to his car and got in. He started to drive, feeling Loren's eyes on him every few seconds. He almost jumped from his seat when she spoke.

"If you could just drop me off at Mel's," she whispered.

Eddie was quiet, but the disappointment was clearly felt by both parties. He drove for a while, trying to think of a way to get Loren to come with him. Finally he just decided to ask her.

"Come with me," he said quietly.

Loren froze; then turned her head to look at his profile.

"What?" she asked.

Eddie glanced at her, "Come with me this weekend. Please? I really want to talk to you. Explain."

"Eddie, there's nothing to explain," Loren tried.

He reached over and took her hand in his, glancing at her again.

"Yeah, there is," he told her, "I spoke to your Mom. I told her that I'd managed to screw up and asked if she wouldn't mind if I took you with me when I went away this weekend. She said it was fine so long as I didn't do anything else stupid, and that we had separate rooms," he smirked at that.

Loren giggled and shook her head, but didn't remove her hand from Eddie's as she became more serious.

"Eddie, listen. I get it, you need to get away and relax by yourself for a while. I just wish you didn't feel you needed to lie to me about it. I would've understood if you'd told me you needed some space," the fingers of her other hand began playing with the fingers of his hand that held hers and she looked down, "I get that we haven't known each other long, and that you just ended things with Chloe; I wasn't expecting anything. This, whatever we have going on, it scares me too."

Eddie squeezed her hand, causing her to look up at him.

"That's why I wanted to talk to you. Please, just come with me."

Loren bit her lip and looked back down at their joined hands as Eddie's thumb caressed the back of her hand.

"Loren?" Eddie asked when she kept quiet for a few minutes.

"Okay," she said, the word just loud enough for Eddie to hear her.

"Okay?" he asked, "You'll come?"

The smile on his face was contagious and Loren looked back up at him, smiling as well.

"Yeah. Just one question."

"What's that?" Eddie asked her.

"Where are we going?"


End file.
